


A Calculated Error

by Infie



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 16:44:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3331595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infie/pseuds/Infie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>S03.E12 -- Diggle learns about the conversation in the alley.  He is unimpressed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Calculated Error

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was pretty angry at Oliver after S03.E12, so I wrote this. Not a fix-it. Spoilers for 3x12. Thanks to TKodami for 'listening' to me rant on this topic, and for indirectly providing the title.

Oliver was pretty sure that telling Diggle about the conversation in the alley was a miscalculation on his part. If the exhaustion and the guilt and the literally gut-wrenching pain of his wound wasn't all but nailing him in place, he'd have escaped Digg's questioning look and wouldn't have even answered the question to start with. Being injured really had him at a disadvantage.

The expression on Diggle's face was a combination of horror, disbelief, disappointment, and fury. Oliver hadn't even realised that was possible, but it was pretty unmistakeable. 

Digg held up a hand and took a deep breath, gathering himself. "Ok, so... let me get this straight. You come back from the dead, announce that you're working with the guy that made your sister a killer by killing one of your best friends and was the cause of you being dead for weeks, and then you tell her that she's only angry about it because she's actually pissed that you still refuse to sleep with her?"

Oliver winced, and it wasn't entirely from the throbbing pain bahind his ribs. "Well, when you say it that way..."

"There's not really another way to say it, Oliver! So, your goal was ... what? To make sure she never speaks to you again?" Based on the look on Diggle's face, Oliver was pretty sure that the _'are you fucking insane'_ could be taken as unspoken but unmistakeably intended.

"No." Oliver gave a half-shake of his head. He took a breath, as deeply as he was able with the healing slash through his torso. "She's angry, and that had to be redirected. We _need_ her here. We need her focused on the mission, not on Malcolm Merlyn." 

Digg looked incredulous, but managed to keep his tone even. "Oh ho! So you were _playing_ her, too! Making her feel like she has to come back or she's being unprofessional. That's... wow." He shook his head in disbelief. "Cold. That is fucking _cold_. Merlyn is rubbing off on you already." 

Oliver shot him a glare that Diggle matched full measure. Yeah, Digg might be taking it well on the surface but he was seriously pissed off underneath. Oliver scrubbed his hand over his face, trying to rub away the memory of the stricken look on her face. 

Digg flexed his hands, cracking his knuckles. "How'd it work out for you? She hand you your head?"

"No," Oliver said carefully around the lump in his throat. "My heart."

"Good." Digg paused for a long moment to let his response sink in, then shook his head. "Man, you better hope you have some better luck coming than you've been having recently."

God, he was so tired. "Why?" he asked, unable to even find the energy to try and figure out what Digg meant. The ache in his chest was getting worse, hurting more than the barely knitted sword wound. He blinked, fighting it back down. 

"Because." Digg stepped closer and shifted to look him dead in the eyes. "If she figures out that you used her feelings for you... that _you_ wouldn't leave alone for the past six months... as leverage to deliberately manipulate her? She may forgive you, cause that girl would forgive you damned near anything, but she'll never trust you with anything _real_ again."

The ache in his chest burst, flooding him with fear. He dropped into her chair like his knees had been taken out and just tried to breathe. "That won't happen," he finally said, his voice almost sounding normal. The look on Digg's face said he wasn't fooled. "You know why I have to do this."

"I know why you think you have to." Digg stepped back and headed for the door. "Right now you need to rest, and I'm guessing, to finish healing. Focus on that." He paused at the bottom of the stairs. "For everything else, it's wait and see."

-30-


End file.
